The 2026 NFL salary cap has been finalized

The NFL salary cap was expected to increase to around $300 million for the 2026 season, and now that number has been finalized.

Per the NFL, the 2026 salary cap has been set at $301.2 million, a $22 million increase from the 2025 season at 279.2 million.

While this was roughly what was expected, it is good to get the official number. This leaves the Bengals with $52.7 million in cap space. They could open up a small amount of space with cuts and even more with restructuring the contracts of Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, but most likely, this number is what they will have to work with in free agency. Without too many internal free agents, the Bengals should be able to add starters at multiple positions with $50 million to play with in free agency.

The team has holes at safety, linebacker, defensive end, and defensive tackle. With this amount of money, they may not be able to get clear starters at all of their needs, but they should be able to trim down their needs before the draft. This is a strong free agent class for safeties, linebackers, and defensive ends, so that lines up well with the Bengals’ needs, and they can get some real improvements to the defense for the 2026 season.

As the salary cap keeps increasing, it makes the Bengals’ deals for Chase, Burrow, and Higgins more and more reasonable. It also shows that the Bengals need to get as many extensions done as early as possible, as those deals just go up more and more as the salary cap does.